Wheels

Sigil

Sigil is the bustling crossroads of the multiverse, full of portals leading to every known corner of existence.

Population

Approximately 50,000 permanent residents. Representatives of nearly every race and monstrous kind can be found somewhere in the city. A host of transients pass through the city daily, with the result that as many as 250,000 individuals can be present in Sigil at any given time.

Government and Defense

The only being in Sigil who wields any real authority is the mysterious Lady of Pain, the enigmatic guardian and protector of the city. The touch of her gaze causes wounds that spout blood, and her smallest gesture can banish someone or something into an endless maze spawned in a pocket dimension. Her presence is said to prevent gods, demon princes, primordials, and beings of similar power from entering the City of Doors, and the fear of her is sufficient to keep a modicum of order in the streets. Crime is common, but rebellion is unthinkable.

The closest thing Sigil has to a police force is a citizen group called the Sons of Mercy. However, without any official power to make arrests or carry out sentences (though they try all the same), the Sons of Mercy aren’t terribly effective in limiting crime. Similarly, the so-called
Sigil Advisory Council might have the city’s best interests at heart, but the group lacks real political power.

Inns and Taverns

Sigil’s inns and taverns cater to a diverse clientele. Efreets from the City of Brass can find flaming halls of sumptuous luxury. Devils can enjoy a night spent in unthinkable debauchery. A traveler might lodge in an inn whose interior is like a twilit fey grove or a sunless cavern, or eat in a place that’s virtually indistinguishable from an alehouse on Toril.

Supplies

The Grand Bazaar, located in the city’s Market Ward, is a huge square overflowing into side streets, alleyways, and nearby taverns. It is filled with caravan tents and market stalls. Other marketplaces spring up in many places throughout the city. Most appear during the day, but some surface only at night, such as the Hive’s Night Market.

Trade

Because Sigil sits astride all the planes of existence, it enjoys a flow of trade that most other cities would envy if they knew the true measure of its volume. Even with the threat of the Lady of Pain, various nefarious trade routes run through Sigil at any given time.

Temples

Temples to all the gods—including evil gods whose shrines are rarely seen in civilized lands—can be found in the streets of Sigil. Most of them are small, and few claim any significant power in the city’s affairs.

Neighborhoods

Sigil is made up of “smog, shoddy goods, accountants, apprentices, barmies, and politics.”